Cook County, Illinois, Sued For New Gun Tax

“You’re welcome to sue. We’ve looked at this and we believe we can survive any challenge.”

-Cook County, Illinois, Board President Toni Preckwinkle, on proposed new taxes on firearm and ammunition purchases within the county, October 18, 2012

On November 9, 2012, the Cook County, Illinois, Board of Commissioners voted 16 to 1 in approving Board President Toni Preckwinkle’s $2.95 billion budget for 2013- and a new $25 per gun “violence tax” on firearm purchases by law-abiding citizens to pay for the carnage caused by violent criminals.

On November 12, I blogged that there was talk of two lawsuits being drawn up against the county as a result of this tax on residents exercising a Constitutional right.

And Thursday night, I came across the following from Cook County Reporter Lisa Donovan on the Chicago Sun-Times website:

A group of Chicago area gun dealers and owners filed a lawsuit Thursday in Cook County Circuit Court, aiming to halt a new $25 tax on every gun purchase in Cook County…

“Proponents of the tax have admitted that its purpose is to curb the number of firearms in circulation. The Tax thus is intended to deter individuals from exercising their fundamental right to keep and bear arms guaranteed by the Second and the Fourteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution and… the Illinois Constitution,” the lawsuit states.

The suit claims the tax infringes “on the right of law-abiding citizens to keep and bear, and law-abiding Retailers to sell, arms as guaranteed” by state and local constitutions.

The gun tax is scheduled to go into effect on April 1.

It’s been claimed that the new tax is also a gun registration scheme being carried out by the second most populous county in the United States. On November 23, 2012, I wrote:

From the website of Maxon Shooters Supplies & Indoor Range (one of the gun shops affected) in nearby Des Plaines:

Did you know the “Violence Tax” would give the city of Chicago & Cook County COMPLETE ACCESS to all records of firearm sales, ammunition and etc. This would ALLOW law enforcement agencies to ENTER YOUR HOME to inventory and audit all your firearms & ammunition WITHOUT A WARRANT!

With the recent passage of Cook County Ordinance Number 13-O-13, which requires “persons who own or possess firearms within Cook County to promptly report to the Cook County Sheriff the loss, theft, destruction or transfer of firearms,” gun registration- whether intended or not- is now in effect in the county. From section 58-190, “Report of transferred firearms:”

A person reporting the sale, transfer, inheritance, or other disposition of a firearm shall provide the following information:
(1) Owner name;
(2) Owner address;
(3) Owner Firearm Owner’s Identification Card number;
(4) Date of acquisition;
(5) Place of acquisition;
(6) Means of acquisition;
(7) Firearm type;
(8) Firearm serial number;
(9) Date of sale, transfer, inheritance or other disposition; and
(10) The name, address, and Firearm Owner’s Identification Card number of the transferee.

No doubt about it, gun registration now exists in Cook County, Illinois. And history shows that confiscation often follows.

By Christopher E. Hill, Editor
Survival And Prosperity (www.survivalandprosperity.com)

Source:

Donovan, Lisa. “Gun owners, dealers sue over Cook County’s $25 tax on firearms.” Chicago Sun-Times. 14 Mar. 2013. (http://www.suntimes.com/news/18859382-418/gun-owners-dealers-sue-over-cook-countys-25-tax-on-firearms.html). 16 Mar. 2013.